


carni-falling for you

by driftingcactus



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Bad Pick-Up Lines, Carnival, Fluff, M/M, Mild Cursing, lapslock, mention of jaehyun for 2 seconds, the markhyuck is in the bg, why are all my fics SO corny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/driftingcactus/pseuds/driftingcactus
Summary: to jaemin, summer carnivals always meant tilt-a-whirl rides and funnel cakes. this year, though, he finds that they can also mean cotton-candy kisses and blooming love.





	carni-falling for you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ieloveshobi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ieloveshobi/gifts).



> this was supposed to be posted a while ago but i kept rewriting it bc i kept hating how it turned out and like my writing style switched up 8 times throughout it 
> 
> but!! i hope y’all enjoy this gross fluff
> 
> not beta-d or edited bc i am lazy

summer, for jaemin, was a lot of things. it meant days that lasted until eight spent basking in the sticky heat radiating from the sun with donghyuck. it meant watermelon popsicles that melted quickly, rolling down his wrists and making his hands sticky, gross messes. (the best part about this was making donghyuck uncomfortable; he would rub his sticky hands all over donghyuck's leg until the other couldn't scream anymore.) summer was laying in the prickly, green grass in his backyard during the nighttime, trying to name and point out more stars and constellations than donghyuck could. it was sleepovers with the whole gang, water balloon fights, painting each others nails, and sneaking chenle and jisung out of their houses so everyone could have cheesy movie marathons.

 

the season meant many things to jaemin, but the most important of all was the summer carnival. the summer carnival rolled around every year, always during the first week of july and never later. he went every single year with the whole gang ever since they were six years old. it was a ritual in their friend group to go to the summer carnival. just like it was a ritual for everyone to have a sleepover at jaemin's house every saturday. (while hyuck slept over practically every other day of the week.)

 

the summer carnival was everything summer should represent. it was rigged games, tilt-a-whirl rides, cheap funnel cake, and genuine fun. so, on the second day jaemin and his small group of friends decide to go. they always waited until the second day — it became a weird kind of tradition.

 

-

 

the scorching sun was unforgiving as it beat down on jaemin’s face. it was a friday afternoon, and he, donghyuck, and chenle were all sprawled in yerim’s cheap plastic pool chairs. (yerim had the nicest pool on the block, so they always pestered her to let them come over and hog her pool.) from next to him, donghyuck groans and decides to detach from jaemin and flop onto the floor.

 

“it’s so hot, i want to die,” donghyuck sighs, and chenle makes a noise of agreement. jaemin just rolls his eyes and yerim, from inside the pool, flicks water at donghyuck’s figure.

 

“if you’re so hot, just get in the pool, idiot,” she says, then deciding to jump on sooyoung’s floatie. sooyoung makes a sound of protest but it’s muffled by the splash the float makes as it topples over. chenle cackles, and jaemin conceals a laugh behind his hand. “and that right there is the reason why i’m not going to get into the pool, you evil hag!” donghyuck shouts, and yerim laughs boisterously as sooyoung resurfaces, her wet hair in her face as she gives yerim the dirtiest look jaemin’s ever seen.

 

from the floor, donghyuck lifts his head up again and rests it on jaemin’s thigh. “yo, nana,” he says, craning his neck in a way that must be uncomfortable. “we’re going to the carnival later, right?”

 

“yeah, probably around 5-ish,” jaemin hums. after a moment, he grins as he looks down at hyuck. “you better start getting ready soon so you can look good for markie, lover boy.” the statement is totally worth it, even as donghyuck tugs him off the chair and flings him into the pool. chenle, in the background, just laughs obnoxiously as always.

 

“donghyuck, you only pushed him in because he’s right!” chenle shouts. sooyoung pauses in her attempts to drown yerim to agree. safe to say, jaemin isn’t the only one who gets shoved into the pool.

 

summer was his favorite time of year just because of moments like these.

 

-

 

it’s two o'clock, and donghyuck and jaemin have retreated back to jaemin’s house. chenle went off to go play video games with jisung, saying he didn’t want to take part in whatever gross things donghyuck and jaemin were going to do. (“you guys are like a weird, evil married couple. i don’t have enough energy in me to deal with this,” he says after they leave yerim’s house. neither donghyuck nor jaemin can dispute the statement.)

 

donghyuck is cuddling him again, leg thrown over jaemin’s hips. he’s scrolling through his phone, bored.

 

“nana, sweetie, babe, the platonic love of my life,” donghyuck calls out, and jaemin looks down at him curiously. he looks a little embarrassed, which is weird because this is _donghyuck._

 

“um. i may need your help, yknow, picking out an outfit. um,” his ears are turning a little red now, and jaemin kind of wants to laugh at how awkward his best friend is being. “you want to look cute for mark?” he supplies helpfully, and donghyuck smacks his chest, pouting.

 

“shut up, you’re making fun of me,” he whines, and jaemin ruffles his hair. “sorry, hyuck. but it’s not everyday you get all embarrassed and shy on me.” donghyuck rolls his eyes after that. “yeah yeah, whatever, the moment’s over now.” they sit up, and jaemin looks over at him. “can you help me with my makeup? or like, i don’t know, work your hyuck magic or whatever. there’s always cute boys at the carnival and _perhaps_ i want one of those cute boys to be swayed by my charm and buy me cotton candy.” after his statement, hyuck clings onto him in a way he knows will annoy jaemin, and practically _screeches,_ “but nana, you already are the cutest person!” he presses wet smooches onto jaemin’s face, and jaemin laughs so hard he’s breathless, trying to kick donghyuck off of him.

 

-

 

it’s 5 and they’re all getting picked up by mark, the only one responsible enough to drive them all around. (renjun likes to argue that he would be a better driver, but mark’s still their designated driver until renjun can afford his own car. “my car, my rules,” he huffs whenever renjun complains about not being able to drive.)

 

jisung rolls down the windows to stick out his arm while donghyuck plays concentration with chenle. renjun, from the passengers seat, tries to decide on which song to play. he can’t decide between snsd and twice, and mark vaguely looks like he would rather break his fingers than listen to gee for the millionth time. jaemin smells the scent of greasy fried food and salt water before they even arrive. (donghyuck would probably drag him to the boardwalk to buy ice cream after they left the carnival.)

 

jaemin can barely contain his excitement as they’re paying the admission fee and buying tickets, bouncing on the balls of his feet. donghyuck, from next to him, snickers and pats his back. “nana, we go every year. it’s always the same.” jaemin knows this, but there was something about the cheap lemonade and the probably unsafe rides that always thrilled him.

 

the first thing they all head to is the stand with cotton candy and drinks. jisung always complained that it wasn’t smart to start off with food, because chenle got nauseous quickly and would throw up, but they always started off with cotton candy and drinks. (chenle never ended up vomiting, even when he whines about feeling nauseous.)

 

renjun decides to go to one of the rides that swung you upside down, and the two youngest follow after him. mark, donghyuck, and jaemin all decide to head to the games first.

 

“mark-hyung,” donghyuck says as he clings to mark’s arm. “you better win me a stuffed animal or i’m not gonna talk to you.” mark blushes and promises donghyuck that he will, avoiding donghyuck’s bright smile, and jaemin scoffs to himself. they were so gross about their infatuation with each other. “you guys act like you’re married,” he says, ignoring donghyuck’s glare. “it’s really corny.” mark’s ears are red again, and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “yeah, it’s kind of like we are,” he chuckles, and jaemin smiles satisfiedly when donghyuck whips his head back to mark to look at him in shock. “um— like, figuratively of course. ‘cus i’m always nagging hyuck and he pretends to not like it when i coddle him even though he does,” mark explains, and both of them are red-faced by now.

 

jaemin wonders how they haven’t realized that they’re both in love by now. the obliviousness of his best friends were worrying — they were worse than yerim and saeron (who always pretended that they weren’t head over heels for eachother even though they were _practically_ girlfriends.)

 

he pays for the three of them at the water gun game, and gives donghyuck and mark an amused look. “prepare for absolute defeat,” jaemin says, ignoring the way donghyuck snorts. “i have impeccable aim.” donghyuck just cracks his knuckles in a way he probably thinks makes him look cool (it doesn’t,) and smirks.

 

“nana, we all know that you’re not gonna even come close to winning. even mark will do better than you,” he retorts, ignoring mark’s indignant “hey!”

 

“fine, believe what you want,” jaemin says cooly. “if you or mark win, then you get to dare me to do something stupid.” donghyuck’s smirk widens, as he sits down on the chair. “jaemin, you shouldn’t of said that,” mark sighs, getting the water gun ready. “now he’s _really_ gonna try to win.”

 

donghyuck’s triumphant cheers are deafening, especially when they’re by jaemin’s ear. “ha! i win, you lose, i win, you lose,” he singsongs, hugging the stuffed dog plushie.

 

jaemin rolls his eyes, pushing donghyuck away from him so he can’t pierce his eardrums any longer. “actually, mark won, so you still suck.” it was beyond jaemin how mark won, seeing as he had shit eyesight and terrible aim. (he doesn’t think chenle will ever forgive mark for almost hitting his arm when they were playing darts that one time. there’s not a day that goes by where he doesn’t dramatically recall it skimming past his wimpy bicep.)

 

donghyuck just smiles. “yeah, but you said i could dare you something if _mark_ or i won, and canada won fair and square.” jaemin scoffs at the way mark’s face reddens at the corny nickname, and crosses his arms. “whatever, whatever, do your worst.” he regrets saying it when hyuck’s face lights up and he smiles mischievously.

 

“okay, do you see the kissing booth over there?” hyuck hums, pointing in it’s direction with the stuffed dog.

 

jaemin snorts when he sees the booth. they just added it 3 years ago, probably to bring in more money because people were willing to throw money at the chance of kissing attractive girls and boys. 3 years later, the light pink booth with bright red writing and god-forsaken _kissy faces_ is still as cringy.

 

this year, there’s a tall, handsome man running the booth. jaemin’s not gonna lie, he’s attractive, and the sight of his straight teeth and dimples are pleasant, but it’s the boy next to him that catches jaemin’s attention. his hair is cropped short and black, and he has the cutest smile that jaemin has ever seen. ugh, the way his eyes sparkled when he laughed—

 

cutting off his thoughts, donghyuck continues, “okay so you see the guy next to jaehyun? the pretty boy with dimples who runs the stand? i dare you to go tell him a really cheesy pick-up line and then try to get his number.” he hears mark trying to conceal a laugh, and he, for once, is thankful that renjun, chenle, and jisung aren’t here. swallowing his pride, jaemin straightens out his clothes and runs a hand through his hair.

 

“deal,” he says, striding over to the handsome boy with black hair. he ignores the way donghyuck chortles out a “good luck!” _you got this,_ he tells himself. _you’ve flirted with lots of people, don’t let this guy’s attractiveness throw you off._

 

the guy looks a little surprised when jaemin walks up to him. “can i help you?” he says, and his voice is a little low and pleasant.

 

“um— are you the carnival, because I’m carnifalling for you,” he says, with what he hopes is confidence. he gives the cute boy his best smile, and the other looks kind of taken aback, but thankfully not disgusted.

 

“im sorry?” he says, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

 

“you look a lot like my next boyfriend,” jaemin blurts out instead, and the boy bursts into laughter, his eyes scrunching up cutely again.

 

“you’re cute,” he’s smiling at jaemin now, the pretty eye smile jaemin saw on him earlier. the guy manning the booth — jaehyun — is laughing at the whole ordeal and pats cute boy on the back. “i’m gonna leave you with pick-up line boy, jeno,” he says, stepping away from then.

 

the boy, jeno, waves him away and turns back to look at jaemin. “im lee jeno, pretty boy,” he says, smiling again. he extends his hand and jaemin hesitates for a beat before shaking it.

 

“na jaemin.” jeno mouths his name and jaemin feels himself flush. “um— I’m sorry for bothering you. my friend over there, the one with the fading orange hair bickering with the taller boy, dared me to flirt with you.”

 

“by using bad pick-up lines?” he questions, raising a brow. at jaemin’s shocked expression, he laughs and raises his hands defensively. “just kidding, just kidding. it was cute, i don’t mind.”

 

“you’re a little too comfortable for someone who just met me,” jaemin retorts, frowning, and jeno laughs. _how is he so perpetually happy oh my god,_ jaemin thinks.

 

“cute people make me let my guard down,” he hums, and jaemin’s heart probably stops for a second, dramaticness aside. he grins when he sees jaemin’s red cheeks, and jaemin offhandedly thinks that jeno smiled way, _way_ too much.

 

“you look like you’re in need of a new stuffed animal, and i may or may not be really good at the games where you knock down the clown pins.” he winks, cheekily, and jaemin lets himself be pulled towards one of the many game stands. the way jeno hesitantly linked arms with him and tugged him along gently was a little cute. just a little.

 

his tongue pokes out in concentration, and he rolls his shoulders after the worker hands him one the plastic balls. the girl at the stand pops her gum with an eye roll, twirling the bottom of her pigtail with her pointer finger. “if you knock down 3, you get one of those big ones up there,” sounds completely disinterested and vaguely like she would rather be anywhere else as she points to the upper display of huge plushies. “if you knock down two, you can get one of the small ones. if you don’t knock any down, or one down, you don’t win anything. that’s all.” she steps aside from the clown pins after her explanation, taking out her phone.

 

“you should give me a peck on the cheek for good luck,” jaemin teases, and jeno chuckles before lightly shoving his shoulder. “oh, but I’m the one who’s a little too comfortable around strangers,” he giggles, rolling his eyes playfully. “and shouldn’t i be the one getting the good luck kiss?”

 

“nope. i’m getting it because i’m cute.” jeno huffs, but leans over to peck’s jaemin’s cheek anyways. “you didn’t deserve that in anyway and only got it because you’re so cute,” he hums, and then chucks the ball at one of the clown pins with all the grace of a five year old. jaemin resists the urge to cackle at how cute the sight is, and unsurprisingly, it knocks down one of the pins.

 

jaemin makes sure to clap his hands obnoxiously. “my hero!” he praises, and jeno giggles again before doing a very dramatic bow. “only for you, prince.” the girl behind the stand makes an annoyed sound, glaring at them, and jeno rubs the back of his neck sheepishly (it reminds jaemin of mark but he doesn’t want to think of mark when there’s a cute boy about to win him a plushy,) and promptly throws the other two balls. the girl cheers drily, and rests her head in her palm, bored.

 

“which one do you want?” without a second thought, jaemin picks out the jigglypuff bigger than his and donghyuck’s heads combined. jeno hands it to him with another cute eye smile. “you’re welcome,” he teases, and jaemin hits his arm with the jigglypuff. “jeno, no one told you to go and win me a stuffed animal. shush,” he mock-scolds, jeno giggling again. (his laugh could probably save the world. probably.)

 

-

 

it’s a little corny, how he was gravitating towards jeno even though he just met him. especially since jaemin was someone who hated stories like romeo and juliet’s where the characters mindlessly fell for each other within moments. he kind of found himself understanding their mindsets though, with the way jeno’s eyes curled up into crescents when he grinned and the way he held jaemin’s hand without even thinking.

 

(hyuck sends him a text saying “ur welcome for hooking u up w the cutie,,, but that doesn’t mean u can just abandon us u rat.” jaemin snickers before shooting back a “shut up u were probably making out w mark anyways” and tries not to laugh obnoxiously when donghyuck leaves him on read.)

 

-

 

jeno is really cute. this was already established the moment jaemin saw him next to the kissing booth, talking to dimple-boy, but in the time that jaemin has spent with him, he’s become even cuter.

 

the way he drives the bumper car with one hand on the wheel and pretends not to struggle at turning is maybe a little more attractive than it should be.

 

jaemin can’t even find himself getting annoyed when jeno spends the whole time on the ride trying to ram into his car, entranced by jeno’s little confident smirk.

 

“i’m still the better driver,” jaemin pouts as they walk to their next ride, and jeno rolls his eyes teasingly, slinging an arm around jaemin’s shoulder. “whatever you want to believe, jaemin-ah.”

 

-

 

his heart swoops down along with his stomach when they get on the roller coaster, partially because of the drop that was a little steeper than jaemin expected, and partially because jeno was clinging to him the whole time, hiding his head in the crook of jaemin’s neck. he squeals the whole time, even when there’s no drops or sharp twists, and jaemin kind of wants to kiss him. a little.

 

(“so much for being a manly man,” he snorts once they get off the ride, swerving jeno’s attempts to flick his bicep.)

 

-

 

it’s nearing the closing of the carnival now, and jaemin has one more ride he wants to hit up before he’s satisfied.

 

“listen, we have to go on the tilt-a-whirl,” he gasps, pointing in the tilt-a-whirl’s direction. “it’s the best ride!” jeno raises an eyebrow at that, but allows himself to be tugged towards the ride. “it’s common knowledge that the bumper-cars are superior but i’ll let you have this one,” he retorts, the corner of his mouth quirking up despite his statement.

 

jaemin foregoes a reply to give the guy handling the ride his and jeno’s tickets, picking the pink shark head. (hyuck always complained about how corny it was for there to be sharkheads, _pink_ ones at that.)

 

he links their arms, and presses against him as the ride begins to start up. the tilt-a-whirl’s unpredictability was always the best part. jaemin never knew how fast it was gonna turn whenever he went on, which was most of its appeal. even if it made him feel vaguely nauseous, the wind whipping his face and blowing his hair every which way made jaemin feel alive.

 

he laughed boisterously as it spun around faster and faster, and turned to look at jeno. the other boy was already looking at him, a small smile gracing his face. jaemin lets himself smile when their eyes meet, and jeno jerks close to him once the seat turns sharply. jaemin intakes a breath, because shit, their faces are _so_ close.

 

he sees jeno look down at his lips, back up to his eyes, and back down to his lips again. everything seems to be moving in slow motion, and jeno licks over his bottom lip hesitantly.

 

jaemin inhales sharply again, and he lays one of his shaky hands on jeno’s shoulder. he feels dizzy, and jeno goes a little wide-eyed, and he thinks _fuck it_ , before leaning in and pressing his lips to jeno’s.

 

he tastes like sugary sweet lemonade and blue raspberry cotton candy, and his lips are just as soft and plush as jaemin imagined them to be. jeno’s hand goes to cup the back of his neck, and jaemin lets himself forget that they’re on a ride right now, that people can see him, and let’s himself get caught up in the heat of the moment.

 

jeno is gentle and cautious, making sure not to push his boundaries, and the way his thumb tenderly brushes over jaemin’s cheekbone makes him want to faint. he, himself, is thumbing at the juncture where jeno’s neck meets his shoulder and everything is just _wonderful._

 

they pull apart once they feel the ride come to a stop a few seconds later, faces red and lips just the slightest bit kiss-swollen.

 

jaemin laughs when jeno trips and almost falls flat on his face trying to get out of the seat, wrapping an arm around his waist to steady him.

 

“you’re adorable, you know that?” jaemin hums, and jeno shoots him a scowl. “im supposed to be the one that gets you flustered, asshole,” he grumbles and jaemin chuckles.

 

“dude, this isn’t like, gonna be a one time thing, right?” jaemin says suddenly as they’re walking toward the exit of the carnival. jeno turns to look at him, frowning. “um—no? unless you want it to be a one time thing?”

 

“of course not!” jaemin splutters, before clearing his throat. “you’re.. really cute and i had a really good time today,” he coughs, blushing. he sticks out his phone to jeno, saying: “um, i like — i want your number.”

 

jeno laughs and takes his phone, typing in a number. “no pick up line this time?” jaemin rolls his eyes, and jeno hands him his phone again.

 

he pauses after he takes a few steps away, turning around. feeling bold, he leans in and gives jeno a peck on the cheek, then turning back and walking off. “goodnight, jeno!” he calls, waving. he wants to turn around to see jeno’s dumbfounded expression, but resists the urge.

 

“well, well, well,” donghyuck huffs, tapping his foot against the pavement, arms crossed over his chest. “what have _you_ been doing all night, mr. na jaemin?”

  
-

 

the earful renjun gives him about going off with a stranger and mark complaining about him taking ages is all worth it when he gets a text from jeno as he’s laying in bed.

 

“hey, youre pretty, and i’m cute. together we’d be pretty cute,” it says, and jaemin squeals into his pillow, ignoring hyuck’s sleepy groan from next to him.

 

“shut up odndldkd,” he sends back, and jeno replies with:

 

“;) it wasn’t as legendary as urs but i tried. arcade and pizza this friday? i wanna get to know u”

 

donghyuck wakes up just to punch him after he screams.

 

—fin

 

**Author's Note:**

> they end up being bfs after 2 months and they’re gross and cheesy 
> 
> also hyuck and mark did make out @ the carnival but take like 2 whole weeks to talk it out and become bfs dkbdjdnd
> 
> anyways comments and kudos make my day <33 thanks for reading


End file.
